Sunday, December 28, 2014

A few weeks ago I was going to have a tabletop campaign, using my 2mm Irregular blocks for my armies. Between the holidays and one of those periods of just lack of interest in gaming, I broke down the board.

Today I was trying out some ideas with the 2mm landscape pieces and ended up playing a quick game. The field was set up using the Waterloo battlefield as the inspiration.

Th French on the bottom of picture. Hougoumont is on the left center and La Haye Sainte in the top center of the picture.

The French move forward.

The left most French infantry is hit in the flank by the British cavalry, losing one unit.

The French infantry turn on the cavalry and the cavalry lose one unit.

The French close in on La Haye Sainte, while French cavalry push back back the British in the center.

Close up of the French cavalry attack.

The British counterattack. On the left of the picture a column of British advance to come to the aid of Hougoumnt.

The French cavalry hits the column and causes 50% losses.

The British try to turn the French right flank. The French cavalry in the upper left of the picture is hit in the front and flank and is forced to retreat.

The French finally take Hougoumont.

The British attack on the French right falters.

The French breaks through the British left and divides the British army. The British are forced to retreat. (At this point in the game the British have lost 50% of their units and therefore are defeated.)

The battle field itself is only 9" X 15". It is the top off an old wooden storage box that someone threw away at one of the schools I worked at.

This is the box. I was trying to make a portable war-game. The figures are Old Glory 10mm ACW figures.

Friday, December 26, 2014

I recently got my new Peter Laing Viking figures. The paint jobs might need a little work but they are ready to do battle with my PL Normans.

My wife wanted to visit her niece in Maryland, so today I dropped her off at the train station. While returning home, I swung by a store that sells discount books. Among the books I purchased was TOY SOLDIERS: A CENTURY OF INTERNATIONAL MINIATURES by Richard Scholl. It is a book about the toy soldiers in the Forbes collection. For the price paid it is a good book. One illustration in it has me thinking of the Peter Laing "toy soldier" project. It shows a sick child in bed surrounded by his toy soldiers, with the poem "The Land of Counterpane" by Robert Louis Stevenson on there facing page. The soldiers in the picture might make a good unit for my Peter Laing armies.

Peter Laing Vikings; chieftain on right.

More PL Vikings.

PL Viking archers.

Viking on horseback. Actually this figure has a cut down shield and is actually a Norman figure.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

While I have been working on Dark Ages armies the last couple of weeks, my intention was to use my new Peter Laing Normans and Picts, I really couldn't find a scenario to my liking in the short time I had. I decided just to have a game using my 18th century toy soldiers. I am still not sure of the manufacturer of the infantry. I used the idea of picking two armies by dice rolls used in ONE HOUR WARGAMES, except I increased to number of units to 8. The terrain was laid out using an idea from William Silvester's THE SOLO WARGAMING GUIDE.

The game was simple itself. There was a village in the middle of the field and both sides wanted to occupy it. The battle ends when one side looses 4 units. Whoever controls the village at that time wins. The rules used are Bob Cordery's MEMOIR OF BATTLE.

The start of the battle. The British are in the foreground, the French can be seen behind the village and woods.

Both sides jockey for position.

The British win the initiative roll and take the village. The British just stormed ahead without engaging the French.

On the French turn their cavalry hits the British cavalry on the flank.

The British cavalry retreats with the French on their tail.

The French start working around the village.

Another view showing the French attack.

The French cavalry continue to rout the British cavalry.

The British inflect losses on the French, but can't push them back. The French continue to push the British line back.

Another view from above.

The French cavlry drive the British cavalry off the field of battle.

The French finally takes the village and push back the British line, where no unit is within range of the village. The British have also lost 5 units at this point; they have lost the battle.

Another view of the French capture of the village.

It was good to get a game in. However, it just turned into a rush for the village with both sides just pouring their units into the attack with no real trying to outmaneuver the other side. This game has me rethinking my next war-game project. I've started to plan my next game. If my plans move forward, my Peter Laings will be taking a rest from the game.